Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in a device to carrying elongated objects. More particularly, the present Sling Carrier for Skis, Snowboard and Boots creates a method to carry skis and/or snowboard with boots. The sling carrier provides full mobility for the person carrying the sporting equipment.
Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
For many people that participate in outdoor winter sports, must carry their equipment from a car or ski rental location to the lift line. When a person carries the equipment to the lift the person carry the equipment and then place the equipment onto themselves for skiing or snowboarding. Most outdoor winter athletes either ski or snowboard, but some of these athletes perform both sports and must carry a large amount of equipment to the ski lift or to a place where instruction will take place.
There are a number of different ways to carry ski and snowboard equipment. Without any external carrying equipment the person generally walks with the boots and carries the ski/snowboard and possibly poles. A second alternative was to have some sort of external device that allows a person to carry the ski or snowboard equipment. There are a large number of variation for carrying the equipment in one hand or on their body. A number of patents and or publications have been made to address these issues. Exemplary examples of patents and or publication that try to address this/these problem(s) are identified and discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,587 issue to Gary L. Carpenter issued on Jan. 24, 1995 to Gary L. Carpenter discloses a Device for Carrying Elongated Ski Equipment. This patent has a pocket where the end of the skies are placed, and a strap connects from the pocket to an upper end of the skies. The strap is placed over a shoulder so the skies are slung from behind the person and under a shoulder to a position in front of the person. With this configuration the person can't bend down or forward without the skies touching the ground. The patent further does not allow the person to transport the ski boots with the skies because the ski boots will occupy an area of the person transporting the equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,495 issued on Jan. 6, 2004 discloses a Bifurcated Carrier Pack for Transporting Recreational Equipment. The patent allows the person to transport a snowboard across the back of the user. With this embodiment the person can bend over, but the orientation of the snowboard makes it difficult to move through a door, and the straps make transportation of the boots difficult. The equipment further does not allow for transportation of skies.
U.S. Publication 2007/0210570 that was published on Sep. 13, 2007 for Jasper C. Erichsen discloses a Ski-Carrier. This publication is for an extendable belt mounted pocket. The pocket is secured onto a belt that holds the pants of a user. When a user wants to transport their skies they extend a pocket and slide the end of the skies into the pocket to support one end of the skies and holds the free end of the skies. Due to the orientation of the skies, the invention does not allow for transportation of the boots with the skies.
U.S. Publication 2010/0206930 that was published on Aug. 19, 2010 for Andrew Jason Sims discloses a Ski and Snowboard Sling-belt. The belt slings the snowboard diagonally across the back of the user. While this patent allows for transportation of ski equipment it only allows for transportation of skies or a snowboard. After transportation the invention does not have a pocket or pouch to transport the carrier after use.
What is needed is a transportation device for a skies and/or snowboard along with the poles and boots. The transportation mechanism should further provide a storage mechanism for the transportation equipment. This document provides a solution.